This invention relates in general to conveyors for transporting packages from one location to another. In particular, this invention relates to an improved drive system for rotatably driving a plurality of rollers on such a conveyor.
Conveyors are well known devices that are commonly used to support and transport packages from one location to another, such as in production line situations. For example, a conveyor may be used to transport packages of a product from an upstream filling station, wherein the packages are filled with the product and sealed, to a downstream packaging station, wherein the sealed packages are packaged into larger shipping containers. Many conveyor structures are known in the art for accomplishing these basic support and transportation functions.
A typical conveyor includes a frame that rotatably supports a plurality of elongated cylindrical rollers in a planar, parallel array on a frame. Some or all of such rollers may be connected to and selectively rotatably driven by a drive system that is usually mounted on the frame of the conveyor. When the drive system is actuated, the rollers are rotatably driven so as to cause packages supported thereon to be moved along a path of movement that is generally perpendicular to the rotational axes of the rollers. Although known drive systems for conveyors have been effective, it would be desirable to provide an improved drive system for a roller conveyor that is well suited for relatively high speed operation.
A roller conveyor includes a frame having a plurality of rollers rotatably supported thereon by respective pairs of roller bearings. A drive system is provided for selectively rotatably driving each of the plurality of rollers. The drive system includes a gear secured to each of the plurality of rollers and a plurality of belts extending between adjacent ones of the gears. As a result, rotation of one of the gears causes rotation of the adjacent one of the gears. The belts are toothed timing belts that are arranged in a two-column, staggered manner along the roller conveyor. The roller conveyor is well suited for relatively high speed operation.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.